Oh Brother

[TheOneBigWill]

So, this is somewhat of a repeat thread because I know we've had a Matt Hardy - Jeff Hardy "Pick your Poison" type thread in the past. At least I could've swore we had, but since it's in the lost pages that I'm not looking for.. we find ourselves with something new.

Times have changed, and so have record books. Jeff Hardy isn't the top star within the Family anymore, and Matt Hardy is officially the first of the Brother's to become a 'World' Heavyweight Champion. (be it as it may) So the question begs to be asked, which brother is better? Which brother will make it longer in the industry?

It could easily be said that while Matt Hardy may of won the E.C.W. Heavyweight Championship, it wouldn't be the same as Jeff Hardy coming close to winning the W.W.E. or World Heavyweight Championships. That could be true, but the facts remain for now.. Matt is a World Champion (as is) and Jeff isn't.

Furthermore, while Matt has been released then rehired by the company because they flat-out believed he was the lesser of two evils regarding the whole Amy Dumas/Adam Copeland situation.. Jeff Hardy was released on drug abuse issues, and refusal to check into rehab.

On that note, since each of their returns, Matt has been very well over with the fans.. but not to be out done, Jeff is insanely popular and a top level Superstar when it comes to being cheered. Jeff has 2 strikes against him, and one more will be his final one as he'll be released without the ability to return.

What are everyone's opinions regarding that situation? Will Jeff screw up and find himself released for good? Or will Matt Hardy's fan base slowly die out and seemingly kill the guy that "Never Dies".

This is your basic "Which Hardy do you pick" type of thread. Discuss which Hardy you feel will have the better, longer lasting future. Discuss which Hardy you believe is flat-out better, regardless of how much longer they'll be in the business. And finally, with the newly made stats.. is Matt Hardy finally above Jeff?

Please explain how you feel on the situation(s) and explain yourself in great detail. Thank You.

 

[mattitude2007]

I would have to say ever since Jeff's second strike, Matt Hardy has been depicted as the stronger of the two.

Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy have both been beaten clean by Randy Orton. But Matt arguably came closer to beating Orton as he did pull off a Twist Fate out of nowhere when both were outside. If they were in the ring Matt would have probably got the win from that.

Also a couple of months ago Vickie Guerrero with La Familia ordered Matt and Jeff to take each other on in a match. The match ended in a No Contest because of La Familia finally jumping in and beating both down, but just before that Matt Hardy was the one who pulled off a big dominating moonsault after having rolled away from a Swanton Bomb attempt. Matt had 'last blood' so to speak here.

So yeah, in a kayfabe sense I would say Matt is depicted as the stronger brother of the two.

As for talent, I've always held the belief that Jeff only ever got over in the first place by being a crappy worker who had to resort to stunts to get pops. Matt had and has legitimate talent in ring as far technique and psychology goes, and also a significant lead on the mic. Whereas Jeff Hardy is second to everyone on the mic and none of his promos in recent times have shown to be an improvement over any promo he cut in the Attitude era.

Also, physique has to be taken into account. Jeff Hardy is in mediocre shape compared to his better conditioned brother Matt. Hell...even HBK's current physique is more impressive than Jeff Hardy's.

If Matt Hardy was the one getting the same kind of WWE champ chaser booking that Jeff was getting near Rumble time last year, I could wager that he'd be more over than his brother comparitively.

*Just a note. Don't take my user name to mean I have an enormous bias toward Matt. Matt isn't even my favorite superstar(Triple H is) and a little over a year ago I was mostly indifferent to him. Only after the MVP feud kicked off did I become a fan.

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

In my point of view, Jeff is better than Matt in every way except reliability. That's without question. Jeff has two strikes, Matt doesn't, therefore, you can trust Matt more than Jeff not to screw up due to personal problems. However, that's where Matt's edge ends.

Crowd control. Jeff gets a better pop it seems. The way I look at it, both Hardy boys have some people cheering for them just because they're naturally associated with the other one. If you'd have started both brothers off with fake names and not in the tag team, I doubt Matt would be anything higher up than a middle-tier midcarder. Clearly, the two of them gained fame by their tag team status, and I think the main reason the fans liked them was because of their high-flying stuff. Which was the high-flyer between the two? Jeff. He's the one taking the jumps off the top of things while Matt prefers to do a 2nd rope elbow (and that ridiculous "aaaaaaaah" scream before it). So while people were fans of the original team, they cheer both. And if Matt gets less of a pop than Jeff, and they both get the same amount of "generic cheers", then Jeff wins this side of the argument.

Wrestling skills. Its a little bit open to debate. Some people prefer ground wrestling, others prefer energetic high risk stuff. Personally, I like a mixture. I find Mysterio very boring to watch as his stuff rarely has to do with the mat itself, but at the same time, I find Finlay to be boring depending on the opponent, as there are only so many armbars and headlocks that you can watch before you feel like you need to stand up and jog just to get some energy. In general, though, you see fans get out of their seats if someone is about to jump off their top rope - not if they're going for a wristlock. So this becomes sort of the "Nature vs Nurture" type of argument in the sport of professional wrestling....is it "Entertainment Skills or Technical Skills?". We've seen many more successful superstars that bank more on entertainment than technical skills than people that bank more on technical ability. Benoit was successful to an extent and he was a technical wrestler without much of an entertainment side. But Hogan, Austin, the Rock...they're much more for entertainment. Who wins between those? I doubt Benoit.

Championships. Jeff has won the IC title a few times and kept them for a little while. Matt won the US title one time and lost it VERY fast. You could argue that they made him drop it because of the draft, which makes sense, but did he really have anything fantastic going? I remember everyone (myself including) saying he didn't deserve the US title and he was a boring champion. Jeff wasn't the best IC champion ever, but he was more entertaining, I'd say, than Matt, as a midcarder with a title. Also, before anybody tries to cop out, remember this: mostly everyone on these forums complains that the ECW title doesn't mean "anything". So anybody that says it means nothing can't possibly say that Matt having the title means that he's looked at as a real shining star. To be completely objective, you have to judge him by his company. As the WWE sees it right now, he's as good as Mark Henry, Kane, Chavo, CM Punk, and the Johnny Nitro version of John Morrison. Jeff, meanwhile, is seemingly being set up to defeat HHH for the highest belt in the company. Can you really compare? Yeah, Matt gets points for beating Jeff to the punch by getting what's supposed to be the #3 rated title, can't argue with that. But in a way, Matt getting the ECW title balances out with the other championships that Jeff's earned, and in the end, you're left with Jeff being on top because he's in a program with HHH...and we all know about him.

Damn it, I wish people wouldn't stop interrupting me while I'm writing this. It would've taken me 5 minutes to write this but its taking me a good half hour due to all the distractions haha. So I apologize if I repeat something.

Anyway, the last topic: scales. To me, Jeff is improving himself and moving up the scale. Matt hasn't done anything new in a long while. He's staying in a straight line, while Jeff is going upwards. Jeff wins that.


All in all, I think Matt winning the ECW title is definitely helping his career...but it doesn't mean he's surpassed Jeff in the whole "which Hardy is better" fight. Now, this could change! Keep that in mind. I'd be unable to say Jeff is better if Matt gets booked as a dominant ECW champion, starts beating people like Undertaker and whatnot (something Jeff almost did, years ago, another plus for Jeff) and Jeff ends up getting released or becoming a jobber. Then, clearly, Matt has the edge. But right now, I think it goes to Jeff. Matt just took an extra step up the ladder once he won the ECW title...but with Jeff's WWE title seemingly in his future...then, he's got the reach.

 

[Cena's Little Helper]

Man...this is a great question. It is also a very tough question to answer. If I didn't have a proclivity for watching or reading everything on the inner workings of the wrestling business, I would have to go with Jeff Hardy. However, given this proclivity, I would have to say that they are both on an equal footing, albeit for different reasons.

Comparatively, Jeff has two things going for him that his brother does not: a readily observable connection with the fans and an ability to put on exciting, fast-paced matches (Of course, I say "an ability" because it's obvious that he phones it in about 25% of the time; for proof, I only need to mention his recent match with the Great Khali to qualify for the Unforgiven 2008 WWE Championship Scramble). In terms of his ability to connect with the fans, observe his entrance: besides the huge pops he gets and the sea of "Hardy arm bands" that you see in the Smackdown crowd, he is the only star I know of right now who walks backs up the entrance ramp to make sure he can give slaps to fans on both sides of the ramp. Furthermore, he is one in only a handful of current wrestlers who occasionally throw their gear or merchandise to the crowds (the others being Cena, Finlay, and Mysterio). In my opinion, these acts display a genuine kindheartedness that I've only really seen in Jeff Hardy, Bret Hart, and Rey Mysterio. And, also in my opinion, both casual and hardcore fans alike dig this, whether or not they will admit it.

In terms of his ability to put on exciting, fast-paced matches, well, I think this one is self-explanatory. But, the following matches, in my opinion, instance this ability: as part of the Hardy Boyz, his ladder matches against Edge & Christian and the Dudley Boyz at Wrestlemania 2000 and X-Seven; as a singles star, almost every match he had in TNA's X-Division between 2004 and 2006, his match with Randy Orton at Royal Rumble 2008, his match with Shawn Michaels on the 11 February 2008 edition of Raw, and his match with The Brian Kendrick on the 5 September 2008 edition of Smackdown.

On the other hand, unlike Jeff, Matt is extremely intelligent, dependable, and hard-working (While I could say he is dedicated to the business, I think that, like Tommy Dreamer, he is a little too dedicated to the business. I only say this out of great admiration and respect for both of these individuals, because, honestly, their level of dedication will never be recognized and rewarded to the degree that it should be). With respect to his work-ethic and dependability, I point to the fact that, save for an approximate two months in 2005, Hardy has been with WWE for ten years, has never had any drug or unjustified behavorial issues, and has willingly and quietly accepted whatever the creative team gives to him. In regards to his intelligence, I point to his shoot interview with RF Video and also to his myriad promos. While one can argue that his accent may turn some people off, I think it is undeniable that no currently active wrestler articulates their thoughts better than Matt Hardy (save for Sting).

Ultimately, while Jeff has qualities that make him a good performer, Matt has qualities that make him an honorable man. Unfortunately, a sense of tragedy arises upon thinking of both brothers: if they could be combined, they would have made an iconic wrestler. And, while I doubt that Jeff realizes this, I am certain that Matt does.

 

[Dead Kennedy]

Jeff Hardy has always been the best Hardy brother, at least as far as wrestling goes, in my opinion. Based on a number of different factors, on which I shall elucidate shortly.

Jeff Hardy has the rare ability to connect with fans on a very deep emotional, almost subconscious level. There aren't many who do not like Jeff Hardy, and the most who do, do such because of his supposed being a spotmonkey. Sure, Jeff Hardy always has a lot of spots in his matches, but that's supposed to be his style! It'd be like calling Batista a boring performer because we rarely see any "exciting" moves from him - powermoves are part of his style. It's pretty unexplainable how over Jeff is, but at the end of the day, nothing really matters but the feeling itself.

As an in-ring performer, Jeff Hardy is one of the most entertaining and quite frankly, best guys WWE have got right now. Even when he doesn't bring his all for some reason or other, he always gives us, the fans, a good match.

Matt has gained popularity in other, more normal ways - because of his work ethic, his passion for the business and his good wrestling ability. Most normal people can connect and relate to that.

Matt Hardy's style of wrestling is more a hybrid of several styles than an outright risk-taker style like Jeff. He's the more sound technical wrestler of the two, but he's not technically sound enough to be on the level of tech-masters like Bret Hart, Benoit or Mr. Perfect. Basically, you need to be THAT good to become an entertaining wrestler of the technical style.

I sort of lost my train of thought somewhere along the way...but while Jeff is the better performer, in my opinion, Matt is more reliable, both in the ring and when it comes to making decisions that affects his career. It truly depends on really, what kind of qualities you look for in your wrestler, but as for me, Jeff is the better Hardy brother. Matt might have been the first "world" champion, but I think Jeff will become WWE Champion before too long into the future.

 

[I.R.S was ace]

I like watching Matt more than Jeff.
Both are exciting to watch and are deserving of there push but I have been a massive fan of Matt ever sonce the Hardy's were first split up and Matt went heel with the Mattitude gimmick and all the Matt facts during his entrance.
The cocky brash heel was pulled off brilliantly by Matt and would have liked to see him push further up the card with that gimmick.

 

[I_Heart_Princess_P]

I have to point out their biggest feuds.

1.Matt:The biggest story in 2005 was hiis feud with Edge and Lita. This had the makings of a classic, but it was hard to root for Matt when he was so horrible on the mic while Edge kept ripping him into shreads. This feud should have propelled Matt into the main event but all it did was tell the whole world that he wasn't ready for the main event

Jeff: Jeff's mic skills aren't much better than Matt's but his actions and is ability to connect with the crowd carried him into his feud with Orton. He had almost the whole Garden behind him, which is hard is hell concidering the known reputation of the fans there, many actually thought that he would pull it off.

With that said I'm going to go with Jeff on this.

 

[Showtime]

I think at the moment Matt and Jeff are both about evenly matched, however I think Jeff has the potential to be greater, as well the greater chance of failing, I'll explain those later.

In the early years of the Hardy's, I always thought that Matt was the better wrestler of the two. I thought all Jeff was was an insane daredevil who does all the sick spots and because of that I figured he'd be the more popular of the two, and it can be well argued that he is, and go the farthest because of it. When Jeff returned to the WWE (I never watched TNA when Jeff was there, so I have no comment on his wrestling skills at that time) I saw that he may well be the better preformer. Both are good performers, there styles are just totally different, and as such in some ways Jeff is better and in some ways Matt is better.

Now on to their accomplishments. Matt has quietly done something that no other WWE superstar has ever done, if we assume that the ECW is a legit main event title. Matt has held every level of title the WWE has ever had (ECW [mainevent/heavyweight], US [middlecard], European [lowermiddle card], Hardcore, Tag team, and Cruiserweight) Ironicly, I think is the correct word to use here, the next and maybe only other person who can accomplish this is, surprise surprise, Jeff Hardy (Lightheavyweight champ instead of Cruiserweight champ thou). Matt has also had quality feuds with main eventers Edge and Kane, and a solid feud for the US title with MVP. Jeff has been a multi time IC champ, and in the past year has had solid matches and maineventfeuds with HHH, Orton, and Shelton. I think why Jeff's feud's get more attention is because they usually have a title up for grabs, whereas Matt's didn't with Edge and Kane.
Now as for their future, I see Jeff probably doing better than Matt. It appears like it will only be a matter of time till Jeff wins one of the big two titles and he's shown he can hang with the mainevent players, whereas Matt might win one of the big two someday in the future, but that's still undecided. Matt will always be an uppermiddlecarder and may always be a contender. Now, Jeff does have those two lingering strikes against him. I hope that since the WWE drig testing program has worked so well, that they will take away strikes from those who have 1 or 2 strikes after say 2 or 3 years of staying clean, to save Jeff or Orton if an accidential 3rd strike does happen. If he does get a third, then that'll open the door for future 'what if threads' about Jeff.

So, to end a long statement, they're about even right now, but Jeff does have the greater chance of success, as well as the greater chance of faliure.

 

[Manjmonkey]

Seeing as how jeff hardy is on his second strike I dont think he'll mess it up but...i dont know. Matt Hardy has definately evened out the playing field Jeff used to be cheered a lot more than matt hardy but know that matt is getting pushed more the crowd is starting to come around. Matt Hardy I think has better wrestling skills but jeff appeals more to the crowd. I think they are on an about even playing field know

 

[Rusty]

Matt Hardy has and always will be, overshadowed by his brother. You look at Unforgiven for instance. Matt just won the biggest match of his entire career. Matt won the ECW Championship. It is a huge step in his career. But not long after on the same night, Jeff Hardy was just 1 second away from becoming a World Champion. The attention then shifted to Jeff instantly. Matt once again, was mainly forgotten about. But you look at reliability. Matt is much more reliable than Jeff as Jeff Hardy has been involved with drug abuse before which lead to being released by the company a few years ago.

He comes back in 2006 and he already has two strikes against his name. One more and he is gone from the company for good. I personally don't believe the WWE will let him go anyway. But thats another topic for another day. Both are mega over with the fans, especially Jeff. I find them both entertaining as I have always liked the Hardy's right from when they were a tag team. Both are similar but different at the same time. Matt's wrestling matches are more technical and low ground. While Jeff's matches usually involve high flying leaps and sometimes high and memorable spots. Right now, they are both in a very good position in the company.

I see Matt Hardy often get criticized for being "boring". I certainly don't find him boring as I personally can't remember the last Matt Hardy match that I didn't like. He is a constant performer and occasionally reminds me of Chris Benoit. Their mic skills are fairly evenly matched and have never been their strengths. But they win fans over with their amazing talent in the ring. The fact is, Jeff Hardy is more loved by the fans in general. Simply because he is extremely unique in many different ways and definately has the look of a superstar. I've always found Jeff more entertaining and more interesting than Matt, but that doesn't mean I don't like Matt at all.

Hopefully Jeff doesn't screw up for a third time as I personally would love to see him have a decent run with the WWE Championship and I'm sure many others agree with me. He may not be the greatest wrestler in WWE history, but he comes out every week and puts on a entertaining show. Hell, when Jeff Hardy wrestles he steals the show almost every night. You have to give to guy some credit. I still believe Jeff is the better of the two brothers and he controls the crowd slightly better as they go nuts the second his music hits. Their mic skills and wrestling skills are fairly evenly matched, but Jeff takes more risks both in and out of the ring and therefore is more entertaining in my eyes.

I hope Matt's ECW title reign is memorable and fairly long. Wrestlemania 25 is the date Jeff Hardy should win the WWE Championship in my opinion as it will be a huge moment for both him and the fans. It is overdue but I really hope either Triple H or The Undertaker puts him over cleanly at Wrestlemania. But for now, Jeff Hardy is currently the better one of the two brothers for many reasons which I have given above. Matt isn't far behind, but he will never be as entertaining and unique as Jeff Hardy is.

 

[OIL]

For me it's Jeff Hardy hands down.

With regards to a championship push, while Matt is the ECW Champion that title is nothing compared to the WWE Championship. That's not putting Matt down, as he is a very good wrestler, but everyone would agree the WWE Title is the greatest title in the industry due to it's history. Jeff has a much more better chance of winning this title, i'm sure Matt will down the road but I see it happening a lot sooner for Jeff because of his current push. He has more fans on his side which is clear when you compare the pops they get. Jeff is more exciting in the ring because he's more of a high-flyer compared to Matt, which dosen't always mean he's better but in my opinion Jeff is much more entertaining in the ring.

Jeff has a special connection with the fans that can't be explained. It's unique in the fact that pretty much everyone wants him to win, but they also have an emotional connection with him. When he does win the WWE Title i'm sure the crowd are going to go absoloutly nuts, and I mean nuts because of this connection.

 

[chasingamy]

Jeff's matches are always exciting and he’s really improved the last year, showing there’s more than just the spots to Jeff Hardy. His match with HBK on Raw was one the best TV matches this year. He bumps and sells like no one else (except maybe the recently departed Delaney). Matt’s matches are always consistently solid. He’s more polished whereas Jeff is still a little botchy on occasion.

Neither is great at promos, but Jeff’s been improving recently so I’d say he has a slight advantage in this area. Jeff has more charisma and makes for a more captivating, marketable character. With Matt, I get the feeling this is who he is, this all we’re going to get. But with Jeff, there’s a sense we’ll never really know him, there’s more that hasn’t been tapped into yet. Jeff is WAY over with the crowd, is the bigger draw, and sells more merchandise. I haven’t seen any advertisements for a new Matt Hardy t-shirt yet he just won a “world” title and is the top dog on his brand.

For the above reasons, Jeff is the better brother both from a fan standpoint and from a business perspective at least in the short-term anyway. In the long run though, Matt will be respected more and may even end up being remembered as the more successful. He’s well-liked by his colleagues and he’s dependable. I think Matt will still have a job with the WWE in eight years.

I give Jeff one year tops. He doesn’t seem to have made any effort to get his issues in check; he’s refused rehab and denied he has a problem. Just yesterday, he was taken off the plane in Nashville because he was allegedly intoxicated. Jeff will screw up again, his WWE career will be done, and he’ll be remembered as wasted potential.

 

[Prodigy]

id have to say jeff. matt is stale but he is loyal to the buissness and i dont think he will ever mess up. jeff on the other hand im not sure he may or may not fuck up again if he doesnt then he will be very succesful. that is what i think jeff is better then matt but matt is far more loyal